More than Yesterday
by Sioux99
Summary: X-over with characters from The Bill. Torchwood and the police are after the same serial killer. Sequel to The Love Machine.


More than Yesterday, Less than Tomorrow

"I don't like it, Luke!"

"Well it's not my first choice for my first day in the job, but there have been three murders in the last week and my face isn't known in the city yet. You have to admit I'm the best choice."

"And you're gay, so you won't mind pretending to give a blow job in a car. Isn't that the main reason?" Craig snapped.

"Don't think so. Come on, Craig, you know what the job demands. What's the problem?"

"What's the problem? You _have_ seen the crime scene photographs, haven't you?"

"Of course I've seen them."

"And you're asking me what the problem is?"

The crime scene reports and photographs made grim and gory reading. Three gay men had been found murdered whilst having sex in their cars. Two found in the two days before Christmas and one on Boxing Day. The cause of death had been a knife to the heart, apart from the first one. Cause of death for him had been exsanguination - he had bled to death from his dreadful injuries. The really blood curdling horror was that all the victims had had their genitals mutilated, almost disembowelled, and parts of their bodies removed, by teeth. This was a detail being kept out of the press. The current theory was that all the men had been using the services of a rent boy who had murdered them and then continued with his horrendous trademark signature.

"Craig, each of us who are going undercover will have three people nearby watching. We'll be wearing wires and our watchers will be armed. We'll be fine."

Craig's stiff posture as he washed up at the sink broadcast his dislike of the job.

"Did you volunteer for this?" he asked, still not turning around.

"Yes, I did," Luke admitted.

A heavy silence punctuated by the sound of washing water and clinking crockery.

"Craig, this creep is preying on gay men. I want to help catch him."

Craig made no reply.

Sighing deeply Luke shrugged into his coat and got ready to go onto the nightshift with the other undercover detectives.

Craig's broad back radiated disapproval and anger.

"Good night Craig," Luke said quietly.

At the sound of the front door closing Craig tightly gripped the edge of the sink and lowered his head. He knew he was over-reacting. Luke was a police officer, like himself. They both knew the dangers of the job. Craig especially; he'd been injured twice in line of duty both necessitating long stays in hospital and rehabilitation. Under his anger Craig knew the real reason he was acting like this; he was frightened. Frightened for Luke. This was their first week living together. Luke had transferred from London to Cardiff so they could live together, making Craig the happiest man alive. And now he was imagining that this was the only happy week he was going to get. He had a very bad feeling about this undercover assignment. He knew DS Morgan wasn't a homophobic man but in his fear he was lashing out at anyone and anything which might prove to be a danger to Luke. Where Luke was concerned, Craig became irrational.

Slowly he dried his hands and put the kettle on. Making himself a cup of coffee he sat at the kitchen table sipping and thinking. He'd spent all the time between Luke telling him he was going undercover that evening to when he'd walked out of the door, shouting and arguing with his lover. Not that he'd managed to change his mind. And he'd let him leave without saying goodbye. Craig wasn't usually a superstitious man, but this time he felt that he needed to make his peace with Luke before he ended his shift. He picked up his mobile phone and speed dialled Luke's number. It rang a few times before he heard Luke's voice.

"Be careful," he said, "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

"I will be. And nothing is going to happen to me. I intend to be around to annoy you for a long time!"

Craig smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

"Sorry, gotta go, the briefing is starting, love you."

The connection was broken before Craig could reply. Whilst he didn't feel totally at ease, he felt better than he had. He took himself next door and tried to relax enough to sleep by watching some mindless television.

Luke looked around the luridly lit room. The insistent beat of the loud music made any form of conversation into a shouting match. He'd had a couple of offers to take himself into the gents for sex, which he'd turned down. He was waiting for the invitation to go 'somewhere private'. He sipped his orange juice, his foot tapping to the beat of the music. Another man approached the bar. He smiled at Luke before ordering his drink. Luke half smiled back and carried on looking around the bar.

"Not seen you in here before?" the man said, his accent Welsh.

Oh great, a variation on 'Do you come here often?' Luke thought to himself.

"No, just moved into the area."

"Ah a new one! I'm Brynn by the way," he said, offering his hand.

"Luke," returned, shaking his hand.

"So how long have you been living here?"

"Not long."

"Why Cardiff? Thought London would have lots more excitement."

"London?" Luke questioned.

"Your accent. You're not from around 'ere."

"Ah right. Job. Company moved to Cardiff, so I moved with it."

Brynn had dark eyes, like Craig. Eyes you could drown in. Luke consciously stopped thinking about Craig. He was lonely for his partner but he couldn't afford to mess this up.

"So, Luke, how about I give you a warm welcome to Cardiff?"

Luke raised his eyebrows. Would this be another invitation for a quickie in the gents?

Brynn leaned forward and said in his ear,

"Somewhere a bit more private."

Luke looked into his face for a few seconds before putting his glass of juice down on the bar.

"OK. Where do you want to go?"

Luke had a string of excuses ready if Brynn wanted to go back to either his home or Luke's.

"You got transport with you?"

Luke nodded.

"Let's go for a drive," Brynn said.

Luke motioned the other man to go in front of him. Brynn confidently led the way to the entrance. As they left the club Luke reached up and touched his right ear lobe, a secondary signal for his protection team.

Brynn gave Luke very precise directions out of the city until they were driving out along a country road. Then, as they nearly driven past a tiny dirt track, Brynn told him to take that road. Luke was getting worried. His back-up team were following at a very discrete distance and he wasn't too sure if they'd seen him take the side turning.

"Pull over anywhere along here."

Dutifully Luke pulled off the road onto the grass at the side. He switched off the engine and waited for Brynn to make the next move. He didn't have long to wait. Brynn took his seatbelt off, unhooked Luke's and then started to kiss him, his hands reaching under Luke's jacket and caressing him through his shirt. Luke kept his eyes open, not wanting to get surprised whilst mechanically returning the kisses. Outside in the darkness a pale shape moved closer to the car.

Luke was a little surprised at how much of a gentleman Brynn was being. Nothing below the belt and he hadn't made any kind of move to undo his shirt. Most casual pick-ups would have had his trousers around his ankles and his dick half way down their throats by now. Thinking about it, Brynn didn't seem to be really enjoying himself either. Manoeuvring so that his thigh brushed Brynn's crotch he confirmed the evidence; he wasn't in the least bit aroused.

Luke knew he had to be careful; he didn't want the case collapsing because he was seen as an agent provocateur. He leaned back a little and shrugged his jacket off, waiting to see what Brynn would do. Brynn licked his lips nervously.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, playing the part of the would-be lover.

"Nothing."

Luke smiled and started to undo his own shirt. That got a reaction. Brynn batted his hands away from the buttons and got to work. Then he leaned in and started kissing Luke's chest.

"You've got a lovely body!" Brynn said, his mouth slightly muffled.

"Thanks," Luke replied, trying to suppress a sigh as the other man licked then suckled on a nipple. That was something Craig did to him and it never failed to turn him on. Luke stared out of the windshield. For now, he could feel where Brynn's hands were, but where the hell was his back-up? Luke wanted this to stop now. If Brynn started to undo his trousers he was going to find the wire Luke was wearing.

A pale shape was drifting towards the car, at first Luke thought it was one of his back-up people but it moved strangely. For the moment he forgot about Brynn, paying attention instead to the odd long shape. It was tall, well over six and a half feet Luke reckoned, and thin, painfully thin. Another shape was being dragged alongside the first. At first Luke thought it was a dog on a lead, then he gasped as he made out it was a man. A man being dragged along by a lead attached to a collar around his neck.

"No, Luke!"

Luke turned his attention back to Brynn.

"Don't look at it. Look at me Luke."

Luke felt the first stirrings of real fear. He looked back outside. The tall thin man had tied the lead to the fence several feet in front of the car. The he stood up. Luke gasped. It wasn't a tall thin man, it was manlike but not a man. It had black holes where eyes should be, a vertical slit for a nose and mouthful of needle sharp teeth. It hissed when it saw Luke looking at it.

"What the fuck is that?" Luke yelled.

"Don't look at it Luke, it doesn't like you to look at it," Brynn begged, "I'm really sorry about this, I am so sorry. But it has Ioin, my Ioin. It'll kill him if I don't keep bringing it other people. There won't be any pain, I promise. I'll make it quick and clean."

Brynn leaned down and produced a long silver knife from his sock.

Shit! Where the fuck was his back-up?

"Brynn, what's going on? What are you going to do?"

"Shush, shush," Brynn crooned putting his fingers over Luke's mouth. "I'll make sure you're dead before I let it have you," he promised.

Luke pushed him away, using every trick he knew to keep that knife away from his chest. Fighting was tough in such a confined space but that didn't deter Luke. He got hold of Brynn's hand and twisted. The other man cried out in pain but dropped the knife. Luke picked it up and held it on the other man, at the same time he used his elbow to lock all the car doors.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

"I don't know," Brynn replied, tears in his eyes. He was looking outside to where the other man was tied to the fence post.

"Who's the man tied up?"

"Ioin, Ioin Morgan, my partner." Brynn started to cry softly.

"Tell me what happened?" Luke ordered, "Now!"

"We came up here for a bit of fun, week before Christmas. It was our anniversary. We been together nine years now."

"So you and Ioin came out here for sex?" Luke checked.

Brynn nodded.

"We were in the back seat. Just getting started when that thing dragged Ioin out of the car. It told me to bring it more men or it would kill him."

"It can speak?" Luke cast a look at the tall creature, hissing at him from a distance of three feet.

"Yeah, it can speak."

"So you brought it someone?"

Brynn nodded. "I didn't know what it was going to do. I picked Davyd up in a bar and brought him up here and then got out of the car. I thought it was going to let Ioin go. But it didn't. Oh God! Davyd screamed for ages before it killed him. We tried to get away but I couldn't get the collar off Ioin, it's fastened on so I couldn't undo it. And it hurts him if you try. When it had finished it untied the lead and told me to bring it more."

"So you did, but you killed the next one first?" Luke asked.

Brynn closed his eyes and swallowed. "I couldn't let anyone else go through what Davyd had. So I used the knife on Scott first. Then later on Evan."

Luke could hear the creature growling outside. Brynn suddenly looked up, Luke following the direction of his look. An elbow landed heavily at the side of his head, driving his head into the side window with a ringing impact. Luke saw stars. Brynn followed up his elbow with another punch, stunning Luke.

"I'm sorry Luke, but I can't let that thing harm Ioin."

Beyond the ringing in his ears and his greyed out vision, Luke knew Brynn was looking for the knife he'd dropped. He was finding it difficult to stay conscious. Then two things happened, bright headlights punched through the darkness and the creature started to scream. At last, was Luke's last thought, as he slid into unconsciousness.

The large black SUV roared down the small road towards Luke's car. The creature screamed at the bright lights blinding it. The vehicle slewed around and an oval disk was thrown out of the side window. The disk made a popping sound then enveloped the creature in a blue cloud. It screamed even more.

Three men and two women exited the black vehicle. The tallest man strode towards Luke's car, a gun in his hand. The others went to the creature and Ioin.

"Get out of the car!" he ordered in an American accent.

Brynn was mesmerised.

"I said get out of the car," the American repeated.

Slowly Brynn unlocked the car door and stepped out into the night.

"Is he dead?" the American asked, pointing at Luke.

Brynn shook his head.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice trembling.

One of the other men sauntered across.

"How is he?" the American man asked.

"Dehydrated and starved but otherwise he's OK. It hasn't touched him."

"OK, Owen. Can you take a look at him?"

The man called Owen came across to the car and carefully opened the driver's side door. He gently pushed Luke back in the seat and began a professional examination.

"Head injury, Jack. He could do with being checked out in a hospital, he may have concussion."

Jack nodded then raised his voice.

"Tosh, can you get the restraint off without frying him?"

The small Asian woman replied,

"Yes, it'll take a minute."

"Ianto, deal with our tall friend there. Gwen!"

The dark haired woman walked across, drawing a gun as she did so.

"Keep him covered," Jack ordered.

"Please don't hurt Ioin," Brynn pleaded.

"We won't," Gwen replied. Then she added more gently, "He'll be alright."

Jack was conversing quietly with the man called Ianto, his hand casually resting on his back. Jack nodded, then both he and Ianto moved back. The creature inside the bubble tried to lash out at them.

Jack looked down at the control panel in Ianto's hands. Ianto looked at Jack who nodded.

"Do it!" Jack ordered.

Ianto pressed a button on the control panel and the envelope around the creature pulsed with light. The creature turned and shrank from the illumination. Suddenly its body became brighter, moving from pale grey to pure white, the light level extremely high, then it disappeared, its scream echoing around. When Brynn could see again, without spots dancing in front of his eyes, Jack was picking up the disk and pocketing it. The creature was nowhere in sight.

The Asian woman helped Ioin to his feet. Owen was talking with Jack.

"He needs a hospital as well. He needs rehydration therapy and his electrolytes sorting out."

"OK, we'll take him back to Cardiff, drop him off at the hospital."

Ianto walked across to the car and took a good look at the driver.

"Jack."

Both men shared a look.

"Is that…..?"

Jack nodded. "Better radio in and tell the local constabulary we've found their detective. Are you OK to drive the car down?"

Ianto nodded. Together they moved Luke over to the passenger side and clipped his seatbelt on. He was showing signs of returning to consciousness. Owen came back to ascertain his state of health.

"How's the head?" he asked Luke.

"Aching. Who are you?"

"I'm a doctor."

Luke looked around, disorientated and dazzled by the powerful headlights in front.

"There was a thing, a creature…"

"I wouldn't say that at the hospital if I were you," Owen said, "You might end up in the psych ward."

"Brynn and his partner, where are they? I need to arrest Brynn."

"Don't worry about Brynn, we'll deal with him."

"Who are you people?"

"We're with Torchwood," Jack replied, striding up. "Ianto is going to drive your car back into Cardiff, we've let the station know we've found you. Then we're going to drop you at the hospital."

"No," Luke said, becoming agitated, "I need to take Brynn into custody. He admitted to the murders."

Owen was loading an air hypo with a phial of liquid, he pressed it to Luke's neck and operated the delivery mechanism. The drug whooshed through his skin and straight into his bloodstream.

"Night, night detective," Owen said with a smile on his face.

Luke's mouth opened and closed, his eyelids fluttered then he was asleep.

"He should be out until morning," Owen told Ianto.

Ianto nodded his understanding and got behind the wheel. Jack was scanning the area when he held up his hand.

"Wait!" Moving the detector he walked towards the car. "He's wearing a wire."

Slowly Jack moved the detector from Luke's head downwards. The detector flashed when it got to the top of Luke's trousers.

Jack grinned at Owen. Owen pulled a face.

"You're the doctor," Jack said.

"Thought you'd have more experience of putting your hands in there than me," Owen cheekily replied.

Ianto faced forward and tried not to laugh. Eventually Jack unclipped the seatbelt, popped the button and turned the waistband back. The wire ran along the back of the material. With a deft twist Jack freed it and pulled the small transmitter with it.

"Range of about a mile."

"Think they were recording?" Owen asked.

"We'll impound the tapes if they were," Jack replied, "Have the other two had their retcon?

"What do you think?" Owen replied standing up.

"We'll follow you down, Ianto."

"Very good, Sir."

Owen clipped the seatbelt around Luke and shut the door.

Ianto parked near the ambulance entrance. The Torchwood SUV pulling up behind him.

"Jack, that's Gilmore's car," Gwen said, "He must be inside."

Jack looked across and recognised the blue car from the camera he had been watching on Christmas morning.

"I'm coming in with you," she said.

"OK," Jack replied, getting out the SUV.

Ianto was unclipping Luke's seatbelt.

"Here, let me," Jack said, leaning in and picking Luke up in his arms.

"I'll get them organised inside, Sir," Ianto replied, handing the car keys to Gwen.

Craig was pacing in front of the reception desk, in a nearly empty A&E department. His hair on end and dark circles under his eyes. He had received the phone call every partner of someone on the force dreads forty minutes previously. Breaking just about every speed limit on the way, he had driven like the devil to get to the hospital only to find Luke hadn't arrived as yet. He turned when he heard the ambulance bay doors opening. A young man entered and went confidently to the desk.

"We need some help, we have a police officer with possible concussion," he said quietly and discreetly.

"Right away, Sir," the woman replied. Within seconds two porters were wheeling a bed over when Jack entered carrying Luke.

Craig turned in the act of running his hands through his hair again. Recognising his partner he ran towards them.

"Craig, Craig, it's alright. He isn't badly injured," Gwen told him as Jack placed his burden carefully on the bed.

"Gwen, what happened?" Craig asked, his hands shaking as he reached out to touch Luke's pale face.

"He was trying to arrest a suspect and knocked his head against the car window. Our doctor's checked him out and given him a sedative."

She thought Craig's face looked paler than Luke's. Luke wouldn't be able to remember anything when he did wake up due to the retcom he'd been given. Neither would Brynn and Ioin. Owen was organising to wheelchairs for Brynn and Ioin, who were sleeping now. She smiled up at Craig.

"Don't worry, Craig, he'll be fine."

His haunted dark eyes looked back at her.

"Thanks, Gwen." Craig looked at Jack. "And thank you for bringing him in."

Jack smiled and said,

"No problem, Craig."

Craig turned and followed the porters taking Luke in to the examination room. Jack remained looking after the little procession as Gwen left with two more porters to bring in Bryn and Ioin. Ianto stepped out of the shadows.

"Are you alright, Sir?"

Jack turned and put his hand on Ianto's face, his fingers flowing into his hair. For a few seconds he looked into Ianto's blue eyes, then he pulled him forward and kissed him, his tongue speaking promises for later to the other. Ianto calmly accepted the caress, his arms by his sides.

"I will be," he said, releasing Ianto. "Come on! Let's get back to the base."

Craig sat at the side of Luke's bed, holding his hand and feeling deeply guilty. The long night dragged on but eventually morning light filtered in through the curtains. Luke began to move. He opened his eyes, his gaze immediately going to Craig.

"Morning." Then he opened his eyes properly and said, "You look like hell!"

Craig didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Thanks!"

"Where are we?"

"Hospital. You got knocked out trying to arrest a suspect. Your back-up unit lost you somewhere."

Luke frowned.

"Can't you remember?"

"No. Last thing I remember is being in a bar, drinking orange juice."

Craig stroked Luke's hair.

"Don't worry about remembering, the doctor said you might have amnesia from the knock on the head. How do you feel other than that?" Craig asked.

"Fine."

Luke turned over to face Craig a sultry smile on his lips. He lifted the bedclothes slightly.

"Get in."

"Luke, you're in hospital!"

"With a big problem which needs your expert attention."

Luke dragged Craig's hand inside the bed then pulled his face down so he could kiss him.

Craig grinned. "You are incorrigible."

"Mmmm. Get me out of this place, I'll show you just how incorrigible I can be."

Craig made an attempt to get up and take his hand off Luke's sizable problem.

"You don't have to go now, later!" Luke insisted, "Much later!"

Craig stopped what he was doing and gazed down into Luke's face.

"I was so frightened when that telephone call came."

"I'm not leaving you. I've just found you again."

"Promise me," Craig asked softly.

Luke stared into Craig's eyes.

"I promise that as long as I have the will, I won't leave you. I love you, more than yesterday, less than tomorrow."

Craig felt his eyes filling.

"More than yesterday, less than tomorrow," he repeated and smiled. As a promise of forever, it would do nicely.


End file.
